Earn my vote
I've been, in recent elections, a pretty reliable supporter – donor, canvasser, voter – for Democratic candidates running for office locally and in state and national races.
About four months ago, I adopted a new policy: I will make no more contributions, of my time or my votes or my money, to any Democrat running for office anywhere until Chuck Schumer is out of leadership.
Schumer is my bellwether, really – his vote in March to help the MAGA Republicans avoid responsibility for a government shutdown infuriated me. It was an act of political expediency that might have made sense when he was elected in 1999 (though I presume Newt Gingrich would disagree). In 2025, it simply meant that the decks were cleared for the passage of the disastrous One Big Beautiful Bill Act, benefiting plutocrats and harming the vast majority of Americans.
More fundamentally, though, Schumer is emblematic of the Democratic party's rudderless, uninspired governance. There's no constructive message of hope or ambition. There's no articulation of policies to help the mass of Americans struggling because of MAGA's regressive economic, racist and sexist policies. Democratic political leaders can tell you why they hate Trump, but offer no contrary vision to inspire the country.
Recently, one of my favorite follows on Mastodon, the federated social media service, posted about a letter she'd written to a local Congressional candidate. Myrmepropagandist recalled Gingrich's Contract with America and how effective it was at coalescing conservative voters around a coherent policy portfolio. She challenged New York Rep. Torres to take a page from Gingrich's strategy and to lay out a range of promises to American voters: If you vote for me, here's what you can expect.
I love this idea! I'd absolutely support forward-looking, well-articulated policies that advanced, say, abundance. I'm way better at working on things I'm for, rather than fighting things I am against. I'd like the whole party to rally behind this effort and create a new Contract for a better America.
Until they do: No money, no time, no votes for Democrats. Schumer needs to move out of leadership anyway – he's long past his sell-by date. A political gerontocracy doesn't serve the party or the country. But the change required is broader. I want leadership that inspires.
You may think I'm cavalier in turning my back on candidates and issues when so much is at stake. But my refusal reflects my conviction that, as constituted, the Democratic party cannot deliver justice, equality, opportunity, fairness. It's damned to lose elections until it remakes itself. It can break that cycle if it convinces voters broadly that it's changed and promises us a future we want, instead of railing about one we fear.
It needs to earn my vote.